El Paso Independent School District trustees will not discuss the private meetings of a governance advisory committee at the school board's regular meeting on Tuesday.

On Aug. 14, school board President Isela Castañon-Williams said she would put the discussion on the board's next meeting agenda after hearing concerns about the committee's lack of transparency from a district resident.

The school board created the committee to offer feedback on policy issues to avoid repeating a districtwide cheating crisis. Trustees directed James "Jimmy" Vasquez, executive director of the Region 19 Education Service Center, to lead the task force.

"We can have Dr. Vasquez come before the board at a future board meeting," Castañon-Williams said at the meeting two weeks ago. "We'll put it on the agenda for the next board meeting."

Castañon-Williams did not return phone calls Saturday.

The committee can legally meet in private if it serves only in an advisory role, but resident Angelica Talavera and other residents have said the public should be allowed to attend the meetings.

Talavera, a member of Kids First! Reform EPISD!, a registered general-purpose political action committee, said she was disappointed by the lack of discussion about the task force's meetings.

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"The school board is not taking any real measure or initiative to work toward true reform," Talavera said. "Inaction like this continues to build a case of why I believe the trustees should resign. They're not acting like they're in a crisis, and it's a shame because the only ones who suffer are the students."

Vasquez said no trustee has asked him to discuss the committee's decision to meet in private.

The committee's only meeting so far took place earlier this month and began on a rocky start with two resignations and half the group absent.

Vasquez said he would delay further meetings until he received direction from the district's new state-appointed monitor, Judy Castleberry.

"I proposed to her to evaluate what we're doing and tell me if she would rather take that function over or give direction if she wants us to work with her," Vasquez said. "She's in total control now. Anything that happened before her coming changes dramatically."

Castleberry was assigned to the district as a sanction for a scam devised by former Superintendent Lorenzo García to remove some students from the 10th-grade and thus have them avoid taking standardized tests for that grade level. The scheme allowed some struggling campuses to appear to meet federal accountability measures.

Castleberry, whose responsibilities include helping identify defects that led to the cheating scheme, said she doesn't have a problem with the task force continuing to meet.

"At this point, I think that committee needs to go ahead with its work, and we'll look for an intersection later but not right away," Castleberry said.

City Rep. Susie Byrd, a member of Kids First! Reform EPISD!, said it's important that the school board and its advisory committee discuss reform efforts in public.

"There's so little known about the action plan to make the organization work better," Byrd said. "I think their actions on this issue speak volumes."

An issue that trustees promised to discuss two weeks ago is scheduled for Tuesday's meeting.

The board will consider and possibly take action regarding online posting of its agenda backup materials.

At the latest school board meeting, Byrd and others said trustees should direct staff members to post more background information on each agenda item, particularly regarding the awarding of contracts.

At the latest meeting, trustees approved about $4 million in several contracts on the board's "consent agenda" without publicly disclosing information about the contracts. A consent agenda includes items approved with a blanket vote without discussion.

Also on Tuesday, the school board will discuss and possibly vote on the following:

An update on the district's efforts to find students who were improperly removed from schools as a result of the cheating scheme.

A draft request for proposals that seek a company to handle the superintendent search.

Possible changes to the district's internal audit policy.

Adoption of the 2012-13 property tax rate, proposed at $1.235 per $100 of assessed value. The proposed tax rate did not increase from the current fiscal year's rate.

Hayley Kappes may be reached at hkappes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6168. Follow her on Twitter @hayleykappes.